Police fired water cannon and teargas to disperse thousands of people protesting in central Istanbul yesterday against new controls on the internet approved by parliament this week.

The new powers, once approved by the president, will let authorities block web pages within hours, in what the opposition has said is part of a government bid to stifle discussion of a corruption scandal.

Riot police advanced along Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue behind armoured vehicles firing water cannon at protesters, some of whom waved flags and held up placards.

Some demonstrators responded by throwing stones or setting off fireworks aimed at police before scattering into side streets.

'Everywhere is bribery, everywhere is corruption,' some chanted, in a variation of an anti-government slogan used by demonstrators in protests across the country last summer.

The government says the internet reform, sent to parliament before the graft inquiry became public late last year but broadened in recent weeks, is aimed at protecting individual privacy and not gagging its critics.

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Anger: Turkish riot police take cover behind their shields as fireworks explode in front of them during clashes with anti-government protestors

Crackdown: Turkish riot police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse more than 2,000 people demonstrating against curbs on the freedom of the internet

Barrage: Demonstrators hurled firecrackers and stones at police officers who cordoned off Taksim Square. Many also denounced a corruption scandal involving former Cabinet ministers and called on the government to resign

Burning rage: The Turkish authorities have approved amendments to its internet regulations that allows the government to block websites without a court order and force internet service providers to store data for up to two years

Protesters shout slogans and gesture at police during the angry demonstrations that swept through the centre of Istanbul

The corruption scandal erupted on December 17 with the arrest of businessmen close to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and three ministers' sons, and has grown into one of the biggest threats to his 11-year rule

Since the scandal broke, Erdogan's government has purged hundreds of police, sought tighter control of the courts and fired executives from banking and telecoms regulators and state television

A protester carrying a black flag kicks a gas canister during the disturbances

Protesters are hit by water cannons Prime Minister Erdogan says the scandal is an attempt by a U.S.-based cleric with influence in the police and judiciary to unseat him. The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies the allegations

Retribution: A man wearing a gas mack picks up a tear gas canister and throw it back at riot police

Deluge: A protestor struggles against the powerful jet of a water cannon as police attempted to disperse the estimated 2,000 people

A Turkish newspaper said on Friday one of its journalists had been ordered to leave the country for criticising Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Twitter, raising concerns about media freedom a day after Turkey tightened internet controls

Today's Zaman said its online editor Mahir Zeynalov, from Azerbaijan, was escorted onto a plane in Istanbul by police. The paper is close to influential U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, locked in a feud with Erdogan revolving around a corruption scandal shaking his government

Stoic: A protestor walks into the jet of a riot police water cannon

A Turkish riot police officer fires what could be pepper-spray pellets (left) as authorities clashed with protesters. Right, an officer fires a tear gas canister into the crowd

A man launches a kick against the massed police riot shields as photographers capture the disturbances

A masked man fires a sling-shot at police officers

Erdogan's feud with Fethullah Gulen, a former ally, has damaged Erdogan ahead of local and presidential elections this year

Ilhan Isbilen, a member of parliament known for his ties with the cleric, became on Friday the latest of half a dozen politicians to quit Erdogan's AK Party, citing its split with Gulen

Media blackout: A person though to be a member of the press is given assistance after being injured near Taksim Square

Protestors huddle against the water cannon. Erdogan's supporters say efforts to portray the government as facilitating the rise of al Qaeda in Syria's civil war, by doing too little to prevent weapons and fighters crossing the border, is part of the Gulen-led effort to undermine him

The European Union criticised Turkey for introducing tighter internet controls, saying they do not comply with EU standards

Social media and video sharing sites have been awash with alleged recordings of ministers including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and business allies presented as proof of wrongdoing. News agency Reuters has been unable to verify their authenticity

A man cowers behind an umbrella as Turkish riot police fire water cannons

We shall not be moved: Youngsters in the crowd gesture their defiance to police

A hooded protestor brandishes a firework. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said that 'the amendments to Turkey¿s already restrictive Internet law would compound a dismal record on press freedom in the country'

European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said: 'The Turkish public deserves more information and more transparency, not more restrictions'